Publicat pe 26/10/2017

Bucharest, October 26^th: INDAGRA – The international fair of products and equipment in the field of agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and animal husbandry was officially opened on Thursday, October 26^th, in the presence of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis at the Romexpo Exhibition Center.
The most important manifestation with agricultural profile organized in Romania, the INDAGRA 2017 fair is designed and organized by Romexpo along with the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Romania and is carried out under the High Patronage of the President of Romania.

The President of CCIR, Mr. Mihai Daraban stated at the opening of the fair, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania: “We are honored that, this year, the XX^th edition of INDAGRA is under the High Patronage of the President of Romania. We thank the President for this honor, to patronize the most important exhibition event in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. 10 years ago, it was rather a medium fair among the fairs organized by Romexpo, but for three editions in a row, this exhibition is the largest one in all fields of activity. This also tells a lot about the field of activity that this fair represents: we have almost 800 exhibitors occupying an area of over 41,500 square meters. The number of participants from INDAGRA FOOD increased this year by 40%, which means that there is an increased interest in agricultural processing.”

Mr. Petre Daea, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, added that in agriculture, the field that managed to attract the most European funds, manage to attract only 3.3 billion Euros this year: “The exhibition takes place in a special agricultural year, when our farmer beings, through technical and technological endowment, in good climatic conditions for all cultures, with small exceptions, with the correct behavior of state institutions, defined by the support of timely subsidies, obtained historical productions that gave the signal of Romania’s potential and which we have to capitalize on. In agriculture, there are many problems to solve for land, production valorization, generation of farmers, research and innovation, response to climate change and much more.”

The President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis said at the opening of the fair that: “our products need to be promoted intelligently, because I am convinced that they will be more and more appreciated both in the country and abroad. In this regard, I would like to congratulate the organizers for their exemplary excellence and exhibitors for participating in INDAGRA with all the best to offer.”

The head of state also said that: “through exhibitions of such a magnitude, Romania is emerging in Central and Eastern Europe as an important actor in the agricultural sector. (…) Romania has the sixth largest agricultural area in the European Union, we are among the top 10 exporters of wheat and maize on a global scale, we have everything we need to make our country a real force in the agricultural and food. But in order for this to happen, delays have to be recovered and some shortcomings have been eliminated. For example, in the first half of the year, imports of agro-food products were almost 3.5 billion Euros, up 17% year-on-year. Our exports, however, grew by only 4.5%, which attracted a trade deficit of over 1 billion Euros in agricultural products only.”